Cartwheels In My Mind

Living Room Decor :: Vintage Yellow Cabinet.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

It's so gorgeous here in Baltimore...kinda makes it hard to stay inside and work.  But alas, somebody has to to it... :)

So, for today's post (sorry, you're stuck with me two days in a row again!) I thought it would be fun to share a little corner of our home.

We have a little nook off the side of our living room and for the longest time we just sort of let anything we needed to fall in that space. But when I found this amazing yellow cabinet at my favorite vintage shop, I just couldn't resist. SO...I brought it home and got to work. And let me tell you...there is nothing more fun to me than a little home decor project! :) The only thing about me and home decor is that I'm constantly adding, subtracting, painting...you get the idea. Nothing stays the same very long around here. So even though you may notice a few problems here and there (aka the tape paint around the inside edge of the mirror where I taped it to spray it yellow, the knobs are now small clock knobs from anthropologie, and all the art supplies are INSIDE the cabinet instead of being all around it) it doesn't look EXACTLY like this anymore, but it's still really close. And I still really love it.

 

First of all, let me just say that I LOVE the yellow color of the cabinet. I know that alot of people like to spray paint old things to make them look a little newer, but I like them to look as old as possible. It just fits my style and makes me feel like it has more sentimental value to it. Secondly, in order to lay out the room for you, I think I need to first share a photo of the colors we are working with:

The green color was one that I had them mix up especially for me at Lowe's (FACT: If you ask them to do a custom color for you you don't have to pay any extra.) and the highlighting colors are white (trim), orange and yellow. This photo shows the green a little more yellowy and the orange a little more obnoxious, but in real life they are really fabulous deep colors.

So for the cabinet display, I painted the decorative mirror (purchased painted red for $3 at a thrift store) yellow and then just simply leaned it against the wall. I love that when you are standing in the room and look into the mirror it makes the room seem bigger. It's also the first thing you see when you walk in the door so I wanted it to really give off a good vibe.

For the black chandelier I just used wall stickers from Target. They are so so great because you can take them off the wall and reposition if you don't like the way it lays at first. (Fact #2: After i did this project I was watching Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami and noticed that they used these exact same wall stickers in their Miami Dash Store.) 

Then I just gathered a few things from around the apartment and added them to the top of the cabinet...but only after putting down some colorful teatowels to add to the vintage effect but also because I love that they have all the colors of our living room. And also because a doilie or table cover would be too predictable. :)

And that's all there was to it! Such a fun little display to greet us when we walk through the door, and even though it fits the living room's color pallette, it kind of has an attitude of it's own...and I love that. OH! and best part...it gave us a bunch of new storage...which I (obviously!) high-jacked to wrangle in some of my art supplies. We do keep extra diapers in one of the doors, though, so it wasn't totally selfish on my part. Just mostly...:)

Just a couple side notes & supply credits: A. The decorative balls are from HomeGoods and came in a bag of 13 for $10.99. B. the lamp is also from Home Goods and was $29.99 C. The "I LOVE YOU" sign in the photo was just a prototype (you can probably tell by the way you can see right through it! :). It actually has been made into a canvas from Ritz Photos. I was just too lazy to retake the photo. D. The thing holding the "I LOVE YOU" sign is a plate holder...also from Target. I bought a blue one on clearance last year after Easter and spray-painted it white.

I think that's it! All this lovely weather has me in such a happy mood. I've been working on art from the second I wake up till the second I go to sleep (with a few hours in there spent playing with the babies of course!). There's just something about spring that puts me in the mood to WORK. Which is why I'm putting in lots of extra hours in order to keep up with my ever growing list! 

Which Reminds Me: what would YOU like to see more of here on Cartwheels? Leave a message here in the comments or shoot us an e-mail to: [email protected] and we'll 
see what we can do to get it here for you. And always remember, we are happy to answer any questions you might have about the projects we share here. All you need to do is ask, and if we know the answer we'll make sure you get it! 

In the meantime, want to see a sneak peek of what I'm working with as part of the last finishing touches to the nursery? (pardon the photo quality, it was taken from my iPhone.)

Yep, it looks like maybe we need to do a nursery week. What do you say? Because I've got way more than just one day's worth of art to share from inside that room. 

And with that, I leave you. But only till tomorrow...

xoxo, Cheryl 

RANDOM ME FACT: Whenever I see an ambulance or a life-flight helicopter I pray really hard for the person inside...because I have more than once been the one fighting for my life inside of emergency vehicles and I needed every prayer I could get...even from a stranger. I also always cry and pray at the site of car accidents...for the exact same reason.

Organization Inspiration - Vintage Locker Bins

 

I have a confession....I have a serious crush on containers.  I love baskets, bags, plastic bins, boxes, metal buckets, glass jars, bowls....if it can hold something then I love it!  I probably own way to many containers right now, but that doesn't stop me from looking (and sometimes buying) new ones.  I am drawn to the aisles with storage containers and baskets when I'm shopping.  If I'm in an antique or thrift store, I'm drawn to all the vintage buckets, boxes, and jars.  Sometimes I buy containers without a specific purpose in mind...I just know they look awesome and that I can surely find something to store in them.  That's the way it was with the vintage locker bins I found while shopping at an antique store.  I had lusted over them when seeing pictures of them on the internet and was so excited when I found not one but FIVE vintage locker bins at a reasonable price.  So of course I snatched up all five, even though I had no idea what I would do with them.

For about a year, they served as storage in my scrapbook area (which was really a corner in the unfinished portion of our basement).  I used them to store punches, sticker letters, stamps, and ribbons.  But when my husband refinished our basement and built me a brand new scrapbook room, the locker bins didn't quite fit the decor style in the new room anymore.  So for the past year they have been sitting in a corner in my basement just waiting on me to find some fabulous use for them.  I recently decided what to do with them (you'll have to wait and see...it's a project for later this spring), but in the meantime found lots of fun ideas for using locker bins on the internet.

 

Happy Organizing!!

 

Organizing Tips and Tricks

 

I love making lists....especially at Christmas! (I know...it's not even Thanksgiving yet...but remember that I am super organized and have already started my Christmas planning!)  When I was little, my sisters and I couldn't wait to get the Sears Christmas catalog so we could make our annual Christmas list.  We would go through the whole catalog, page by page, and write down every last item we thought we needed.   Now that I'm older,  I'm the one in charge of doing the  gift buying, meal planning, and taxi driving during the busy holiday season, so I need something to help keep me organized!  I have seen lots of ideas for Christmas planners, but most of them were too big for what I wanted.  I just wanted something small that I could throw in my purse and take with me on my 1001 Christmas errands.

A friend sent me this cute little notebook in a goodie package and I decided it was the perfect size for my Christmas planner (it's approximately 4inx3in).  I originally was going to cover it with holiday patterned paper, but I decided I liked it just the way it was.  I added some tabs using a Stampin' Up label punch and also added a little label on the front (also a Stampin' Up punch). 

 
 
 

Now I have a place to keep my to do lists, wish lists, lists of gifts to buy, and a mini calendar (for the calendar I simply divided each page in half and use each half for a different day).  The last little touch was to adhere an envelope for receipts to the inside back cover.

 

So....now it's time to make your lists and check them twice....in a cute little Christmas planner of course!  Happy list making!!

 

Artists Studio: Marcy Penner.

This month I thought I would share one of our team members art studio. Each Cartwheels designer has been introduced on the site and we've all had the chance of getting a glimps their studio. And ever since I've seen little bits & pieces of Marcy Penner's creative space, I've been intriqued to see more. So, of course, I couldn't resist asking her to share with the rest of the world, where her brilliant creations take place.

Marcy is an amazing talent. Her photography is so beautiful, you feel like you are actually there while memories are being captured through her eyes. Marcy also keeps herself busy creating handmade journals, embellishments and all sorts of crafty kits and sells them in her Etsy shop. I just love her style and how she conveys it on paper & in her home.

What is your scrapbook style? Eclectic simple?  Kind of a mash up between simple and random I would say.

How do you find inspiration? Usually from the internet, product and my photos.  Most of the time I don't sit down with a plan.  I just start sticking things down and it takes off from there.

Favorite product? My favorite scrapbooking product hands-down is patterned paper.  It's just a Jack-of-all-trades!

Favorite storage solution? My letterpress drawer I snagged up at an antiques mall a couple of months ago.  It's perfect for storing all my little bits and pieces.

Favorite tool(s)?  Hmmm.  The Crop-o-dile is handy.  I'm not a big "tools" kinda gal.  I recently even put my paper trimmer away.  Usually a pair of Cutterbee scissors and a pen seems to be enough.

Are you a daytime or nighttime scrapper? I used to stay up to the wee hours scrapbooking.  But, lately it's whenever I can grab a minute... usually during the day.I'm really happy with my new inspiration frame. I've used the large frame previously in photo sessions, but I decided it needed a more permanent home.  It got a fresh coat of paint and some kennel fencing for the back.  

Most of my art projects this last little while have been home decor related... like this vintage chair I recovered in houndstooth fabric.

And of course there's still scrapping going on...

This year I was fortunate enough to be asked to participate in Elle's Studio Online Journaling Class (http://www.shopellesstudio.com/blog/jc2010/JournalingInYourOwnWords2010.pdf) and, of course, I joined the Cartwheels in my Mind team.  Designing for a manufacturer in the scrapbooking industry is definately on my bucket list!  ;)

When I'm not renovating our 120 year old home, decorating or scrapbooking I'm taking pictures.  Being a natural light photographer and living in Canada though means for a short season.  But the creative break is always welcome!  :)

Now that you've gotten to know more about Marcy, sit back, relax, grab a hot cup of tea (or coffee...) & enjoy the studio tour!

My studio has changed often.  It's just never been "right".But right now we're in the process of putting in a new kitchen and I knew the old kitchen island just belonged in here.  In addition to this are lots of thrift store finds for storage.It's a tighter space now for sure, but it's now a room that the kids enjoy too.  Plus I would rather have a larger workspace than, for example, room for a chair.

This is the view from the doorway off the living room.

Right on the left is my little sewing station. Our basement stairs jut out into the room here so I stacked some white cubbies and made a little storage unit.

 
Along the other side of the wall (on the right) I have a series of random shelves.The first set is a shelf from a store that closed out here a while ago.  I love the little slots for my alphabet stickers.  A quick coat of white paint and it was good to go.The shelf above was from the thrift store and also painted white.  It's the perfect size for all my little clear containers. Next is another series of shelves.

The large shelf on the bottom is actually part of our old old kitchen. (We started a temporary kitchen renovation when we moved here 12 years ago to tide us over to the "real" one we are in the process of completing). We painted the upper cabinets white and set them on the floor.  Above that we stacked another shelf... painted white ;).

Beside this wall lives a little blue (!) shelf from the thrift store. Here I keep my cardstock and a letterpress drawer filled with little embellishments.  The art is from Andrea Jenkins.

And here's what that side looks like from my viewpoint.

Right now my patterned paper is stored in file folders under the island. We need to build some shelves and some rolling storage boxes for them yet.

On the other side (behind me now) is the closet.  We've never used it as a closet though.  It's the "office". Wicker baskets hold miscellaneous crafts... embroidery, envelopes, sewing notions, tools, ephemera... stuff I don't need access too as often.

Underneath the counter in the "office" is a wooden toolbox... say it with me... "painted white".  Good.  ;)  The bottom drawer houses items listed in my etsy shop.  The other drawers are the perfect size for punches.

My newly purchased product sits on the counter above in wire baskets.

The clipboards one the back wall are super handy!

So.  That's it.  Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Ahh, yes! Marcy, it was a true treat to see more of where all the magic happens. Thanks so much for sharing your creative space and creative storage solutions in all it's glory.

To read more about Marcy, check out her website: An Inspired Life and see what yummie goodies she has for sale up in her Etsy shop, too.

 

Cheers:)

  

Jumpstart On A Tuesday :: Ring Organization.

Hello again, my friends! I'm sorry to say you are stuck with lots of Cheryl today...but hopefully I'll be able to inspire you at least a little. :)

This afternoon I wanted to share one of my favorite organizational/home decor ideas. It's no secret that I'm a big fan of handmade jewelry, especially when it comes to making my own rings...and mixing in a little home decor just sends me over the top. So when I found this little bird feeder in a vintage shop recently for a little bit of nothing I knew I had to get it to hold all my handmade rings. (I have seen them at tjmaxx, marshalls, kohls and a few other stores so I'm pretty sure it's not true vintage, but I'm ok with that. :D)

The color that the rings bring to the little dish and the accessability just makes me happy. I actually have it sitting in my art studio to provide a little extra inspiration to the room and within reach if I'm in a hurry to go somewhere and want to add a little something extra to my look for the day. Now if I could just get Gracie and Londerpants trained to NOT want to play with all the colorful pretties tempting them at eye-level I'll be good to go!

Do you have any fun organizatonal tips? I'd love to see them if you do!

Photo of the Day, October 3, 2010.

(c) Cindy Liebel

We have six baskets full of books throughout our home...two in our family room, both kids bedrooms & ours, the bathroom room & kitchen. I love the way the books look lined in up in a row in the baskets (purchased from Ikea); so colorful. I like to keep them readily accessible at all times & the kids love it.